Memory
by Bijuewled
Summary: Sakura looked at each person in the room, and shook her head, her eyes filled with worry and confusion "I've never met any of you before in my life." Sasuke's blood went cold. SasuSaku
1. Gone

**Author's Note: So this is what happens when I'm bored in class..I think of new stories to write, but who said that was a bad thing ;). So enjoy! **

The sound of her shoes clicking against the tile echoed in the halls, each echo only ebbing her further on to her destination. Her breathing was rapid, her lungs feeling as though they would explode with every breath she took. Sweat beaded on her forehead, but with a quick swipe of her fist the perspiration was wiped free of her skin. Her leg muscles screamed and burned for rest, but she forced them to keep moving rapidly forward. She'd lost track of how long she had been running for, but that didn't matter anymore. The only thing that mattered was that she made it to her destination on time, everything depended on her completing this mission.

She rounded a corner and stopped short, just in time to remain hidden and invisible. Making her breathing as quiet as possible, she slowly peered around the wall and her eyes narrowed. Two shinobi were standing between her and success that was waiting to be achieved.

They hadn't noticed her yet, occupied with their private thoughts.

She slowly reached into her pouch and brought out a kunai, a small click escaping the metal.

The larger man's head shot up, and he brought out his own weapon, and slowly approached her hiding place. She could feel his presence near her, and she counted down in her head.

Three.

His opened toe shoe became visible.

Two.

His torso fully visible, rounding the corner.

One.

Before he could react, she stealthily plunged her kunai directly on a pressure point behind his neck. He fell to the ground with a loud thud, un-moving.

"Hey!" another voice boomed.

She turned her head as the other male rapidly approached her location. He stopped short and took in the sight of his fallen comrade, her blade still stuck in the back of his neck. He raised his head, giving her a blinding, murderous stare.

"I'll kill you." he spat threateningly.

She smiled. "You'll have to catch me first."

And her body vanished, swirls of cherry blossom petals appearing in her absence.

The shinobi's eyes widened, and he spun three hundred and sixty degrees trying to locate her, pulling out a blade of his own.

But he wouldn't find her, not until she willed it so. After all, that was the beauty of genjutsu, and she was quite skilled at it.

His hand that wielded the blade was shaking slightly, his eyes dancing around the bare white walls. Suddenly the room was filled with the overwhelming scent of cherry blossoms, and more petals appeared above the man's head, floating down and beginning to spin slowly.

The man dropped his weapon, and his pupils widened, the scent of the blossoms taking affect. He reached out to catch a petal as it fell towards him, willing to immerse himself in the petals.

The soft and fragile petals' edges sharpened as they swarmed into his body, incapacitating him successfully in his mind.

She stood a few feet away and allowed her genjustu to completely affect him, smirking as he sank to his knees with a blank stare on his face.

She turned to the doorway that she had earned her passage through, but stopped when she heard some static suddenly erupt from her earpiece, and she turned the small dial on it.

"What happened? I heard voices." a male voice spoke in her ear.

"Just some guards I took out, and I'm fine thanks for asking." she replied sarcastically.

"Hn."

She inwardly sighed, Uchiha men are so impassive, she thought shaking her head.

And her eyes caught a gleam of metal that had been forcefully abandoned on the tile.

She bent down and twisted the navy material between her fingers, and her gloved thumb traced the unfamiliar insignia cut into the metal. She frowned in confusion.

"Their headbands..I don't recognize this village." she said

"What?" his voice grew slightly with interest. "Are you sure?"

She examined the unfamiliar design once more,. "Hai. These men…aren't from a village we are familiar with." she had her mind wrapped around the design, ingraining the image into her brain.

She stood up, shaking the thought from her mind. She wasn't sent in to this place to collect unfamiliar headbands. She looked ahead into the doorway in which she had rightfully earned her passage through.

White marbled steps wound around the walls, no doubt leading to her objective.

"It's probably nothing, but I'll inform Lady Tsunade about it. I'm going on, I need to get the pendant." she dashed into the open doorway and began to sprint up the flight of stairs in front of her, thinking of nothing but the fact that she was so close, and stalling was not an option.

"Be careful." he said in her earpiece.

She smirked. "Now you tell me."

* * *

For what seemed like an hour, she finally made it to the top of the winding marble staircase. Panting, she rested for a moment, placing her black gloved hands onto her knees. Her earpiece came alive.

"I've tracked your location, the pendant should be right in front of you in the tower." his voice said.

She groaned. No wonder it took her so long to climb the stairs, it was a tower. Leave it to these people to hide the treasure in a tower, totally not obvious. She raised her head from her knees and looked ahead into an archway, the outside adorned with rows of pink pearls, only slightly adding to the bland white walls.

She straightened up and walked into the archway, and paused at the entrance of this second room, another white walled dome like room drained of any color. Sections of the walls were carved open arching up to the ceiling, adding a colosseum like vibe to the room, sending in gusts of fresh air. Her eyes traced the architecture, entranced by the beautiful structure, but then her eyes fell to the center of the room.

There it was, the reason that Lady Tsunade had sent her and Sasuke on this recovery mission. The key to their success was resting on an ivory pedestal, atop a velvet cushion the color of an eggplant.

She approached the pedestal slowly, her eyes scanning the room for anything that was or might trigger some sort of trap. It was only when she was two feet in front of the pedestal did she relax, as no traps were sprung. Her hand reached out, but it was quickly withdrawn when she spotted it at the last minute; a very thin ring floated effortlessly around the velvet cushion that thickened the closer her hand got. She frowned and took out a small shrunken. She jumped back and threw the star at the ring. On impact, sparks flew and the throwing star dropped to the floor, the edges bent and burned. She reproached the pedestal, and doing the first thing that came to her mind, she rapidly formed a few hand signs.

"Kai!" she said assertively.

She watched in glee as the ring evaporated into nothing. Triumphantly, she once again reached out her hand and curled her fingers around the delicate gold chain of the pendant, the turquoise crystal attached shining in all its glory. She allowed her senses to be momentarily taken over by its beauty, holding it up to catch the light. She immersed her vision into the crystal, the endless ocean of turquoise swam in her eyes. She smiled, joy rushing through her veins, feeling as though she consumed ten cups of coffee.

"Sakura?" her earpiece buzzed.

"I got it! Mission complete, where are you?" she asked Sasuke, never taking her eyes off of the jewel.

"Look down and you should see me." he replied.

Sakura finally looked up from the gem, and closed it in her fist. She walked over to the open wall that held a breath taking view, her footsteps echoing in the room, and looked down. Sure enough Sasuke was standing on the ground, looking up at her with what she believed was a slight smirk on his face. But of course she couldn't be sure because of their current height difference. Sakura smiled, and enclosed the pendant in her hand, and with her other hand formed the ram hand sign. Sakura focused her chakra to her feet and successfully felt the _whoosh _of her successfully transferredchakra. There was no way she would make a graceful landing from this height, she'd walk down the wall more than halfway, then she'd jump the rest. Taking a deep breath, she put her foot out to connect with the outer wall of the tower.

But someone had grabbed her shoulders from behind, yanking her back into the room and spun her around.

"Sakura!" she heard Sasuke yell from her earpiece, which was rudely yanked from her ear before she could respond. It was thrown onto the polished marble floor.

At that moment adrenaline pumped through her veins, there was absolutely no way she would be leaving empty handed, or being taken a prisoner when she was so close to victory.

Sakura gathered chakra to her fist, ready to smash the face of whoever was about to stop her from taking back Konoha's property.

But her fist froze in midair as she looked into the oh so familiar eyes of the person who grabbed her shoulder.

Her eyes widened and her heart beat out of her chest.

"You.." she said incredulously.

The last thing she saw was a bright swipe of chakra.

* * *

Sasuke looked up at Sakura as she approached the opening of the tower. He sighed in relief, now they could head back to Konoha and present the ever so important pendant to the Hokage, and actually learn the importance of the pendant. All the Hokage had told them was that the pendant itself was older than Konoha, and it had belonged to the mother of the First Hokage. It had been stolen from the village years ago, and they had finally located it.

Sasuke had assumed that their lack of knowledge was a precaution, just incase Sakura or he was taken hostage and questioned by the people who stole the pendant, and having no knowledge would spare their immediate death.

Sasuke saw Sakura place the tip of her shoe on the outside wall, ready to make her descent to him.

And his heart dropped when he saw his teammate suddenly disappear, her body forcefully yanked away from his field of vision back into the tower.

"Sakura!" he yelled into his own earpiece, but he didn't get a response.

He heard a small whisper.

"_You.."_ he heard Sakura say faintly.

Sasuke's stomach dropped to his knees.

What in the hell was happening?

"Sakura!" he yelled again, turning up the small dial on his earpiece.

And he heard a sharp scream erupt from his ear, unsettling his entire being.

His head shot up, and his eyes widened in horror as he saw Sakura's body thrown out into the air, her back arched. Her pink head tipped back followed by her legs, and she was falling head first rapidly towards the ground.

_Sakura._

He gathered an overwhelming amount of chakra to his feet and dashed upwards, the ground leaving him faster than he had anticipated. He met her body halfway towards the ground and quickly wrapped one arm around her torso and the other under her legs. He held on to her tightly as he smoothly landed on his feet, careful not to drop her. With Sakura still in his arms he went down on one knee and his eyes landed on her head.

A giant gash stretched across her forehead, blood spilling down her cheeks like tears, dampening her pink hair to a dark red. The wound was deep, too deep to be ignored. He gently placed his fingertips on her forehead near the gash, and he quickly withdrew them when she cried out loudly in pain, her fists tightly clenching his shirt, like she was holding on for dear life. Her entire body was shaking violently.

He had never seen her in such agony.

"Sakura! Who did this?!" he yelled in frustration, even though he knew that she wouldn't respond.

Sasuke felt something jab him sharply in his chest, and looked down at one of Sakura's hands to find it grasping something. He gently unclenched her fist and he inhaled.

The pendant shined up at him, the turquoise gem vibrant.

Sasuke looked down at Sakura, slightly marveling at his teammate. She had been attacked and thrown from a tower, yet she had still managed to hold on to the pendant, never once releasing it from her grasp.

His heart stirred at her victory, but quickly began to beat rapidly in horror when Sakura's body suddenly went limp, her hand dropping from Sasuke's shirt, and grazing the soft grass beneath him.

His mind was moving a mile a minute. Without any hesitation, he tore a giant piece of fabric off of his shirt and wrapped it around Sakura's head, to help with the bleeding. The white fabric was quickly soaked with red. He quickly stored the pendant in his pocket and hoisted her onto his shoulders and spread all of his chakra to his feet once more. With blinding speed, he dashed into the trees in the direction of the village. The trees around him became blurs of green and brown, and his eyes teared up slightly from the wind.

_Hold on Sakura, hold on.._

* * *

"Arigatō, Lady Tsunade. His arm is healing well thanks to your treatment, and he should be released in a few days." the blonde nurse happily reported to the Fifth Hokage.

"Excellent, thank you for the report Ayumi." Tsunade replied.

Ayumi smiled, bowed her head respectively and rushed off in the other direction, her hair flowing behind her.

Tsunade sighed, she hadn't been this exhausted in a while, not since a few weeks ago when an entire squad was ambushed on their mission, and she had dropped all of her paperwork and spent the entire day pumping chakra into their weak and dying bodies. She remembered her head spinning like a top, so weak from the over use of her chakra that she could barely move. But of course that was nothing that a giant bottle of sake and a very long nap wouldn't fix. And that was exactly what she was about to do.

A nurse hurried past Tsunade with a cart filled with hot meals and drinks. The nurse picked up one of the covered dinners and walked into one of the hospital rooms. Tsunade took the opportunity to grab one of the white polished cups on the cart, if she was going to drink for the rest of the day she would drink like a proper woman.

Just as her fingertips were about to touch the cup, a large crack split through it, some pieces instantly chipping off and falling to the ground with a small _clack._ Tsunade's hand froze outstretched. Being a big believer in superstitions, her eyes widened then narrowed quickly. This had happened to her before, and she thought back to when the Kazekage of Suna had been taken by the Akatsuki, and Team Kakashi had been sent out to assist Suna. The same type of cup had cracked just as she was about to pick it up, and she had the urge to send a backup squad to assist in the mission. If she hadn't, that mission may not have been a success.

She stared at the chipped cup, returning to the present. Something wasn't right, something definitely was not right.

And her suspicions were confirmed when Ayumi came running back in her direction, yelling frantically and urgently.

"Lady Tsunade!" Ayumi exclaimed running up to her, her eyes filled with intense alarm.

"What is it?" Tsunade asked urgently, her voice lowering an octave.

"It's Sakura-san! She's-" Ayumi began frantically but Tsunade flew past her, not allowing her to finish her statement.

Damn it! She knew something was wrong, but this time it had to do with her student, but Sakura was more to her than that. She was like a daughter to her.

And like a mother to her child, she would do anything to save her.

* * *

Everything happened too fast. One minute she was wrapped in his secure arms, holding her limp body possessively against his chest. It only took Sasuke to run into the hospital for the nurses to take action, a blonde nurse dashing away like a scarred rabbit only to return with none other than the Fifth Hokage.

Lady Tsunade took him in with her honey colored eyes.

"What's happened?" she asked him urgently.

And her eyes drifted to Sakura's body in his arms.

She dashed over to him and slipped her arms under Sakura's torso, but he pulled on her slightly, not wanting to let go of her. Sakura took a sharp breath from the movement, her closed eyes squeezing more tightly shut. Tsunade met his eyes, any signs of compassion or sentimentality non existent.

"Uchiha Sasuke, let go of this girl or I'll break your neck." she said threateningly.

Sasuke looked down at Sakura who's breathing, to his utter horror, was lessening quickly. He looked at her pale face, and something stirred inside his body. He found himself at a loss, then submissively loosened his hold on her and she was lifted out of his arms. He watched as Lady Tsunade handed Sakura over to a group of awaiting doctors, who gently took her into their care and rushed into the doors leading to the operating rooms.

Sasuke's chest felt uncomfortably cold behind his cotton shirt without her body pressed against it. He crossed his arms as a substitute, but nothing could warm him, nothing except the assurance that his teammate was alive and well. He looked down at the tear he made of his shirt, some of the threads hanging loosely where the fabric was ripped.

Lady Tsunade put her arm on his shoulder. "She will not die. I swear on my life."

Sasuke hated any physical contact, and would have normally slapped anyone's hand away, but let her hand linger on his shoulder, her words dancing in his mind.

And somehow, he brought himself to believe her.

Soundlessly, he dug his hand into his pocket and his fingers were greeted by the wretched amulet that may have cost Sakura her life, and held it out in front of him, the crystal swinging back and forth like a pendulum.

Tsunade's eyes widened, her hand reaching out to cup the hanging turquoise. She hastily took it from him, enclosing it in her palm. She looked at Sasuke with approval shining in her eyes, but that light quickly dimmed as she turned to head deeper into the hospital, no doubt to heal her student.

How she had managed to remain calm at the sight of Sakura bleeding to death was beyond him.

She pushed the metal door open, then paused. She turned to Sasuke, "And put away your sharingan. You're starting to scare everyone." Before disappearing behind the doors, she gave Sasuke a look that said, "We'll talk later."

Sasuke blinked. He stared into the small windows of the hospital doors, and his reflection looked back at him, his Mangekyo Sharingan fully active, the red star flashing through his eyes violently. Sasuke hadn't even realized that he had activated his bloodline, having been so caught up in adrenaline and stress. His eyes began to tingle with the same burning sensation that occurred whenever he used the mangekyo. He sighed and closed his eyes, allowing them to return to their normal black color. He opened his eyes and noticed that the nurses that remained in the waiting room were cautiously staring at him, whispering among themselves. Sasuke shot them glares, and they all instantly averted their eyes, some rushing away, saying to each other that they had patients to attend to.

Sasuke stood in his spot, unmoving.

That is until the front entrance to the hospital slid open, or flew open to be more exact.

Sasuke felt a pair of hands clamp down on his shoulders and spin him one hundred and eighty degrees, and he found himself facing the one person who he knew would confront him.

Uzumaki Naruto.

"Sasuke! What happened?! Is Sakura-chan ok?! Who attacked her?! What's going on?!" Naruto forcefully questioned Sasuke, his face filled with worry and anger.

Word sure travelled fast.

Sasuke only looked at his best friend, feeling the same pain as Naruto, only Naruto seemed to make the pain in Sasuke more prominent. Naruto had already been out on a mission with Kakashi and Sai when Tsunade had assigned Sasuke and Sakura on their mission, so it had been just the two of them who were available from Team Seven.

So Naruto knew no details of the situation, and it must be killing him inside.

Sasuke sighed and sat down. "We just got back. The Hokage is healing her now." he said, hearing his own voice sounding gloomy. Naruto stood un-moving next to Sasuke, his blue eyes showing hues of red from anger, Sasuke feeling wisps of the strong chakra of the Kyuubi.

"Sasuke, you're going to tell me everything that's happened, no details spared."

* * *

Tsunade looked down at her student, examining her head. The gash spread across her whole forehead, her hair and cheeks stained with her blood. Sakura's body was shaking, and she was barely breathing. Tsunade placed her fingers above the gash. Her head was hot, very hot. Tsunade's expression turned grim.

The wound's deep, she told herself, and her fever is rising.

She lifted her fingers and began to form various hand signs, signs too complex for any medical ninja to master quickly. The nurses around Tsunade looked on waiting for instructions as Tsunade's hand began to glow green with her chakra. Tsunade inhaled as she bid her chakra to increase, forming a cloud of green that floated over Sakura's head. She lowered her hand, the chakra settling on top of Sakura's forehead like a blanket. The chakra glowed, and began its work on healing her wound. Tsunade turned to the nurses.

"All of you continuously supply my chakra with your own, focus on her head and her head only. That's where the most damage is."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama!" the women said in unison.

* * *

"So you have no idea who attacked her?" Naruto asked incredulously, his fists tightly clenched and resting on his knees.

"No, she was grabbed from behind and…." Sasuke took a breath, "Thrown into the air.." he finished difficultly, leaning his head back against the wall. He closed his eyes, but whenever he did so he would see the terrifying vision unfold in front of him.

Her voice, first so happy and triumphant with success, then the sharp scream of pain. Her body thrown into the air, the deep, threatening gash on her forehead..

Naruto's intake of breath pushed away Sasuke's terrible visions, which he was thankful for.

"If she…if she dies.." Naruto barely spoke, sobs threatening to explode out of his body.

Sasuke said nothing, slightly shaken by Naruto's unusual seriousness. For once Sasuke had nothing to say, nothing to reassure, nothing to calm his best friend down. Because inside his own heart there was a terrible pang, pain so emotional that he didn't know how to handle himself. And there was something else.

Anger, pure anger and fury rushed through his veins, and he felt the same as Naruto did, the same pain and fury.

It was enough to help him make his decision. If Sakura died, he would find out whoever had murdered his childhood friend.

And he would kill that person for taking away the light in her eyes.

* * *

Sasuke's head shot up as he heard an opening door. His eyes were glued to her honey ones, not showing any emotions or anything to indicate that something had gone wrong. Naruto jumped from his seat, not wasting anymore time.

"Bāchan! How is she?! What's happening?!" Naruto exclaimed grabbing the Hokage's shoulders.

"Is Sakura-chan…alive?" he asked desperately, his eyes fixated on hers.

Lady Tsunade gently took Naruto's hands off of her shoulders. She looked at Naruto for a few more seconds, saying nothing. Then she leaned over slightly to Sasuke.

He looked back at her, his insides exploding with nerves and anxiety, dreading to hear the words that he feared would come out of her mouth.

But she smiled. "I made you a promise, and I've kept it."

Sasuke let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, the stress that was eating away at his body was suddenly drained, and in its place came relief. It flooded through him like a new rainstorm in the desert.

Sakura was alive, and in that moment that's all that mattered to him.

* * *

There was pain, so much endless pain. She felt as though she were floating in blackness for days, with not a single ray of beam of light to guide her. Her mind was numb, oblivious to anything that happened around her, if anything had happened at all. She allowed herself to continue to float freely in the dark.

_Sakura._

And the pain was gone, the everlasting pain was finally banished from her senses. She heard a voice call, activating something inside of her.

_Sakura. _

She felt the floating sensation abruptly end, feeling her body register a soft material underneath her.

She was confused, who was Sakura? And who was calling her?

_Sakura, wake up. _

Oh right, that was her name, but who was calling her here?

She felt the darkness brighten around her, small blurs of color slowly appearing in her vision.

_Sakura-chan, wake up! _

She was tugged out of the darkness, and her eyes opened.

* * *

Sasuke's heart leapt when he saw Sakura's eyes open, her green eyes full of life. Naruto had laughed with relief, his blue eyes shining. He was sitting at the end of Sakura's bed, helping her sit up. His arm was supportively wrapped around her back as she slowly rose.

Her hand instantly flew to her head, touching the giant bandage wrapped around her forehead, and she grimaced.

"Be careful, Naruto. She's alive but not fully healed. The wound will need time to fully heal." Tsunade said as Sakura turned to look at Naruto, her eyes studying him as if this was the first time she had ever laid eyes on him. Naruto smiled brightly at Sakura, who was still taking him in.

"You scared us Sakura-chan, I'm so glad you're safe." Naruto said, smiling at his friend.

Sakura said nothing, her eyebrows knitted together as if she didn't understand a word Naruto had just said. Sasuke's eyes narrowed, something was off.

"Sakura." he simply said.

She turned to him, and gave him the same look that she gave Naruto, a confused and intrigued look.

She took a small breath. "Who…" she began.

Sasuke's blood ran cold.

"…are you guys?" she finished.

Nobody moved a muscle.

"Sakura-chan? You…don't know who I am?" Naruto asked, his voice quiet yet daunting.

Sakura looked at each of them, and shook her head, sending Sasuke's heart back into its rapid beating.

Her eyes were widened in confusion.

"I've never met any of you before in my life."

**New story for the new year :) Let me know what you guys think! xoxo **

**P.S. The design on the headband and the pendant will be explained soon, I have it all planned :)**


	2. Amnesia

**Author's Note: Okay so the morning after I published this story I woke up to SO many notifications and reviews saying how you guys love it, and that seriously made my day! I can't thank you enough! Here's chapter 2! xx**

Every single person in the hospital room hadn't moved. Silence was draped over her visitors like a tightly-knitted woolen blanket; A pin could drop two rooms down the hallway and they would be able to hear the trivial click.

Confused and scared eyes swarmed all around her, making her feel more uncomfortable than she already had been feeling. It wasn't enough that her head throbbed painfully under the white bandage wrapped securely around her head, not to mention she had absolutely no clue how she had been injured in the first place, but of course she now had to deal with a bunch of strangers standing around her bed who had been staring at her like she was some estranged animal locked in a cage. But she may as well be..

"_I've never met any of you before in my life."_ her own words echoed in her mind, still tasting the words on her tongue. She had spoken the truth, simply stating what she believed to be was the obvious. Evidently, however, her words had set off a stupor among the people who stood around her, making them look more confused than she was, if that was even possible.

She turned to the boy who had been sitting beside her, but he rose to back up against the windows. She took in his spiky blonde hair, which was tamed by a headband tied behind his head, the strands of the fabric flowing out behind him whenever he moved. His bright blue eyes were filled with an overwhelming amount of concern under his furrowed brows.

Next she studied the older woman who was present in the room. Her hair was also blonde, though much lighter than the boy's, and tied into two neat pigtails that trailed down her back which gave full attention to her full chest. Her honey colored eyes were gentle, but narrowed in confusion.

Then she turned to her final visitor, and almost inhaled of shock. He stood against the wall adjacent to the foot of her bed, his arms crossed. His black hair was spiked out at the end, giving him a sort of windblown look, though not entirely. She stared into the glistening onyx pools that were his eyes and almost found herself immersed in them, but luckily she found a way out.

Simply put, he was attractive; Very attractive she might add.

The silence continued on heavily, and she finally broke it.

"Why is everyone so quiet? And why is it so shocking that I don't know who you are?" she asked, softly touching her head.

More silence.

Then miraculously the silence was broken.

"Sakura." the woman in the room said with urgency.

Sakura's eyes shot up. Yes, that was her name, but how did this woman know her? And come to think of it, the blonde one who had acted so cheerily around her had called her "Sakura-chan", treating her like a close friend..

"Tell me who you are." she asked without hesitation.

"Haruno Sakura." Sakura replied without hesitation. Sakura didn't know why she was asking such questions, of course she knew her own name, why wouldn't she? She knew her own life. Sakura leaned forward, ready to answer any question that was thrown at her.

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"Where are we right now, where do you live?"

Sakura opened her mouth, then slowly shut it. She sat back against her pillow, defeated. How could she not know the name her own home? She squinted her eyes into the white blanket that covered her legs, digging into her mind. All she saw was darkness, nothing to even hint at where she might be this current moment, except the fact that from her surroundings she could obviously tell that she was in a hospital-

A hospital?!

Her eyes flew open. Why in the hell was she in a hospital?! What had happened to her?!

As if to answer her question, her head throbbed painfully once more, causing Sakura to gasp and grab her head once more. The pain ebbed away slowly, and she sighed with frustration, crumbling the white sheet in her fist. She was so confused, so upset that her brain would not cooperate with her commands to repeat the memories and facts that she should know, that she knew existed in her memory.

Her memory…

Sakura desperately ran through her head, trying to dig up anything that surfaced immediately.

_My name is Haruno Sakura._

_I'm eighteen._

_I live in…._

_My friends are…_

_My family is…_

…_.._

Why couldn't she remember anything?! It was as if she had her memories removed, eradicated from her brain…

But then something just suddenly clicked, the explanation to her confusion became crystal clear; the reason she had no recollection of the identities of the people around her, or anything else.

Sakura took a breath. "I'm…I'm supposed to know all of you aren't I?" she asked them with a sense of humor hidden behind her question. "I'm supposed to already know all of this stuff."

The blonde woman sighed. "Amnesia, no doubt about it now."

Amnesia..

Sakura felt as if her body was breaking down, her shoulders shook and her eyes had widened. As much as she would try to deny it, her diagnosis made so much sense. Her visitors had to be her friends, there was no doubt in her mind.

The woman walked to the side of Sakura's bed, and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Normally Sakura would have recoiled from any strange person touching her, regardless if she was supposed to remember her or not.

But there was something about her touch, it was firm yet comforting, and it felt so familiarly reassuring that she allowed the woman to leave her hand on her shoulder. Sakura looked into her honey eyes, the eyes that she felt she had looked to for guidance once in her life. And right in this moment, she desperately craved guidance more than ever.

"I'm Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage of Konohagakure. And your shishou." she said.

A small spark ignited in Sakura's brain, and grew into a small flame.

Konohagakure, the name of her home, the village that she grew up in. The name was too familiar for Sakura's mind not to accept. She began to see flashes of the village streets, bustling with children and the heavenly aromas of restaurants that wafted in the air. She saw the prominent stone faces of the Hokage that looked over the village.

And shishou… This woman- er Tsunade- was her shishou..

She was a kunoichi trained by the Fifth Hokage..

However no memories of their training surfaced immediately like the mention of Konoha had for her, and this deeply dampened her spirits. She felt the small flame in her head burn out, the opening that her lost memories had tried to slip through had closed. Worried that she would loose this new set of information, Sakura went through her head once more, able to fill in one of the many blanks she still had yet to remember.

_My name is Haruno Sakura._

_I am eighteen years old._

_I live in Konohagakure._

_The Fifth Hokage is my shishou._

…_._

And those were the memories that Sakura was graced with this day. The rest would have to come on their own.

Sakura smiled at Tsunade, who had smiled back at her.

Sakura turned to the boys in her room, they had seemed to gravitate towards each other, but only slightly. They both remained silent, as if tape had been stuck to their mouths.

"Who are you guys?" Sakura asked gently. "I'm so sorry that I don't know..I wish I remembered…I should remember…" she trailed off, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

The blonde one walked forward slightly, his blue eyes loosing the lustre they once had. Then more confidently, he approached her and placed his hand on her shoulder, his touch sending a warmth throughout her body.

"Sakura-chan, this isn't your fault. You'll get your memories back, don't worry." he smiled at her, and Sakura felt as though she had been given that smile multiple times, which comforted her to a deep level.

Suddenly, he gave Sakura a thumbs up, and whole heartedly placed it against his chest.

"You'll remember, and I'll make sure of it! I never go back on my word, because I am Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm going to be the next hokage!" he exclaimed enthusiastically.

Sakura laughed lightly, and looked into his sparkling blue eyes. "Arigatō..Naruto." Her spirits were most definitely raised, her opinion of Naruto was nothing but positive, though she had to admit she found him rambunctious, but that was another road she would have to travel down and experience on another day.

Finally she turned her head to the second boy in the room. Sakura had once again almost lost her breath from his enchanting onyx eyes and his perfectly chiseled arm muscles. His stoic appearance seemed to add to Sakura's fascination for him. And the way he had said her name before; lingering on the last syllable like he had not wanted his speech to end. Her name had sounded beautiful coming out of his mouth, and she wanted him to say it again.

"And you-"

"Uchiha Sasuke." he responded quickly, cutting her off rudely.

_Sasuke.._

Sakura began to feel her heart flutter, a lightness invading her system.

_Sasuke._

She felt as though his name had been on her lips many times; whispered, screamed, cried, crooned softly..

Sakura fought the urge in her body to rise from her warm hospital bed and wrap her arms around him, and the scary part was that she had no idea why her body had these lusting urges. Yes he was attractive, no, extremely attractive; gorgeous even. But it was something else, something that was once familiar to her, and was lost and yet to be found once more.

"Sasuke." she replied, smiling slightly at him, then her smile quickly faded.

Sasuke's brows had suddenly knitted together, and his mouth fell into a frown. His eyes narrowed slightly, making them blacker. He looked as if he had wanted to lunge at Sakura, and this scared her, though she never broke eye contact with him. She looked into black, trying to trigger anything, anything that would define her past with him, but like his eyes, she saw black.

Slowly, he began to head for the door, breaking their awkward eye contact to stare only ahead of him. His feet clicked on the white tiles, sending booming echoes into Sakura's heart.

"You should rest now." he simply said, stopping in front of the door.

Sakura opened her mouth to say she was fine, but something told her that she shouldn't say anything. She watched with a heavy heart as he calmly exited the room, taking Sakura's words with him.

* * *

Words could not describe the emotions that were digging into Sasuke's heart. He had done all that he could from releasing his frustration in Sakura's room, the fury threatening to be relinquished. He slammed his fist against the wall, and gritted his teeth.

She had no memories of her past, no recollection of her friends or her life, and had regarded all of them as strangers. The white bandage that was wrapped around her head was catching Sasuke's attention the whole time, bitterly reminding him why she had amnesia.

And the way she had smiled at him and repeated his name as a child would when uttering their first word. As soon as she had smiled, Sasuke had seen a flash of the almost dead, bleeding girl he carried in his arms who's lifeless face had almost given hims heart attack. Thankfully, he hid his emotions, replacing fright with impassiveness, as he had been very talented at doing. He had to get out of there before he lunged forward and shook her shoulders, wanting to shout at her until she remembered everything. And he had to admit his name sounded strange coming out of her mouth without the suffix -kun. His mouth went dry as he tried to regain himself, but he felt an assertive hand be placed once again on his shoulder.

He turned to see the Hokage standing behind him, her expression anything but light.

"You and I need to talk."

* * *

The moon was a giant beacon of light, backed up by the glistening stars. Sakura had been sitting by her window for hours, taking in the beautiful night sky. She counted three stars in a row, which led to a bigger constellation that resembled a swan in flight. She looked at the swan, wishing that she could escape everything and fly away.

She had been left alone after Sasuke left, followed by Tsunade. Naruto had shrugged his shoulders, also ignorant about Sasuke's behavior.

Naruto had left a few hours earlier, saying how he had plans to meet with his girlfriend Hinata, who, surprise surprise, Sakura didn't remember. Naruto had promised to visit Sakura as often as he could, and left Sakura alone with her thoughts.

Sakura closed her eyes and concentrated.

_Will yourself to remember, anything you can bring to the surface._

She gritted her teeth, digging her fingernails into her palms, trying to force her mind to open at her will and give her the memories that were suppressed. Nothing came, only black.

She grunted frustratedly and threw a pillow across the room, making a soft thud as it made contact with the wall. It just wasn't fair! Why did it have to be her?! And what had happened to her to make her land in the hospital? Nobody had told her, acting as though they hadn't heard her questions, just responding with "Are you comfortable?" and "Can I bring you something to drink?" These only angered her further, why was she being ignored? Was this some sort of therapeutic experiment? _Oh, you have amnesia, so you aren't to know how you have received this issue because it could quite possibly cause you trauma you don't need; quite affecting the rate that you'll regain your memories. Would you like some more to drink? _she imagined someone explaining this to her, and she scoffed, though her thoughts were interrupted as she heard a soft _meow _come from outside her window. Sakura blinked, and turned to see a black and grey spotted cat sitting on her windowsill. She raised her hand and flipped the tab that unlocked her window. She raised the glass and the cat walked into her hand, rubbing against her fingers and she lightly stroked him.

"What are you doing here little guy?" she asked sweetly, scratching him by his whiskers. He blinked at her with electric blue eyes, and purred loudly as he rubbed his head into Sakura's palm. Sakura smiled, it was nice to have some company, regardless if it was a human or a cat. Sakura noticed a red collar around the cat's neck, that interestingly had two bells attached, hanging low on some thin thread.

Suddenly the cat's head flew to the side, seeing something that had moved in the dark, and jumped after it. As he did so, the two bells clanged together, emitting their sweet sound.

That's when Sakura's body froze, and her eyes widened.

Her eyes remained on the jingling bells, watching them swing. Her head began to shake and her eyes widened further than they were allowed.

She took a sharp intake of breath as her vision blurred, went dark, then opened to past technicolor.

* * *

_She stood in the training grounds, her feet planted firmly apart on the ground. She felt confident, she had made sure her hair had been perfectly smoothed down and her headband firmly secured on top of her head. A warm breeze blew, blowing her long hair away from her back. Today she was a shinobi, a kunoichi of Konohagakure, she wasn't a child anymore. On either side of her stood her new teammates, both of them staring intently forward as she was doing. Naruto was as annoying as ever, constantly boasting about becoming hokage and ramen. Though she had not bothered to listen, she had focused all her attention on Sasuke._

_She blushed thinking about her Sasuke-kun, after today he would finally see her skills and appreciate her as a person. She knew that it was only a matter of time before she stole his first kiss, and she felt tingles down her spine just from the thought of kissing him._

_She directed her attention back to the white haired man in front of them. Hatake Kakashi, their sensei, stood before them holding out two bells dangling from thin thread. The bells glistened in the early sun, jingling with the wind. She watched his lips move behind his black mask._

"_All you have to do is retrieve these bells from me before noon, you can use any weapons including shuriken, and if you're not prepared to kill me none of you will manage to get these bells." he said as a matter -of- factly. "Those who do not will be tied to that post, with no lunch, and watch as I eat my lunch in front of you." She groaned, they had been told not to eat breakfast, and she had taken the liberty of not eating dinner the night before either, a bad decision on her part._

"_Hmph, seems easy enough! Let's go!" Naruto boisterously exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. She rolled her eyes, and in the process noticed the number of bells._

"_Wait, there are only two bells and three of us. How will we all get one?" she asked._

"_Simple. The one who does not manage to get a bell…" he began "Will be sent back to the academy." _

_All three of them widened their eyes, and inside she was groaning. There was no way she would go back to the academy, she would be separated from Sasuke and she couldn't have that. It was her luck they were placed on the same team, and she wouldn't tempt fate by not trying to get a bell. She inwardly laughed. If she and Sasuke got a bell, Naruto would be sent back to the academy, having only Sasuke on her team which excited her. She would get one of the bells, even if it killed her. _

_All of a sudden Naruto had grabbed a kunai, and threw it at Kakashi._

"_Naruto, what are you doing?!" she shrieked._

"_Take that!-" Naruto yelled, but a swift cling was heard, and Kakashi stood behind Naruto, pinning his arm behind his head that was clutching a kunai. Kakashi had Naruto's hand with the kunai pointed towards Naruto's head, Kakashi's other hand grasping Naruto's head, messing up his blonde hair. _

"_Don't be in a hurry, I didn't say start yet." he replied calmly._

_She gasped, he was so quick, and deflected Naruto's attack like it had been nothing! Naruto grumbled and his face was full of frustration and anger. Sasuke had been staring incredulously at the two of them, but then an unknown emotion settled on his face. She was distraught, now she was seriously doubting whether or not she would be able to get close to a bell, let alone obtain it. The breeze blew again, leaves blowing off of the trees eerily. Nobody moved._

"_I think…I might be starting to like you guys." Kakashi said with humor in his voice, letting go of Naruto, who dashed back towards her and Sasuke. She glanced at Sasuke again, his expression was now a determined one, he eyed the bells as if they were the only thing left on earth. This activated something inside of her, a newfound determination. Because those bells wouldn't only guarantee her spot on the team, but they were the ticket to winning over Sasuke. And she knew she had to become a great kunoichi, and to do that she needed to pass this exercise._

"_Ready…." Kakashi said._

_She gathered chakra to her feet, executing it perfectly as always, just like in class. Her green eyes stayed glued to the bells. No more distractions, she had to focus. She exhaled._

"_Start!"_

* * *

The scene before her suddenly vanished, and Sakura was back in her hospital room, gasping for air.

**I was really excited to write this scene, and yes there will be recollections throughout the story :) And going off topic, who else is FREAKING OUT over the new manga chapter?! (661) I really think Kishimoto is trying to kill me, otherwise Naruto and Sasuke would be fine.. Anyways, don't forget to review!**

**PS for those of you who don't read my other story **_**Reunited, **_**I said that I have midterms coming up (I'm a high school student) and I have to focus on them, so no clear date of when the next chapter for that and this story will be posted, but I promise it won't be long. See you guys next update! xx**


	3. Ringing Bells

**Author's Note: Oh my gosh FINALLY I'm able to post this chapter! Thank you guys for being so patient with me, it means a lot! Finally here's chapter 3!**

Confusion. So much confusion.

That's the only way that Sakura could describe the emotional turmoil that was rushing through her pounding head. Her fingers were entwined in her silky pink tresses, carefully resting on the sides of her head so that they wouldn't come into contact with the bandage that concealed the reason that her memories were taken from her, the gash that took her identity away.

Though were they completely gone? She didn't think so, based on the fact that she had seen- what was it? Could it have been a memory? A dream? No, she didn't think so. It had to be a memory that was shut away, and it somehow managed to squeeze through the lock placed inside her head.

Yes, she agreed with herself, a small event of her past came back to her, and she could now recall that specific event of the past that played through her brain.

It had been the three of them, together for the first time, on their very first survival task.

That's where it began, on those training grounds, with Naruto and Sasuke, together fighting for those damned bells that tauntingly swung from threads on their sensei's -er Kakashi's- hip.

She played the memory over and over again in her head, relishing in the sweet memory she had been graced with, easing some of the frustration she had felt the entire day. She re-watched Naruto's impatience, Sasuke's impassively cool demeanor, her desires, the bells swinging in the breeze.

But that's when the anxiety of her day returned, invading her body causing a dropping sensation in her stomach.

The bells, what had happened with the bells?! Had they been sent back to the academy like Kakashi had told them? Had they been successful? And if they had managed to get the bells then who was left out of the equation? Which of the three of them had been sent back to the academy?

Sakura squeezed her eyes tightly shut, and replayed the vision until the last second..

"_Start!" _she heard Kakashi pronounce.

At this moment she squeezed her eyes tight, and plunged into her brain and pried it open, forcing out the remainder of the memory.

However after she saw her younger self leap off of the ground, everything went black, and Sakura only saw small hazy flickers of images. A boxed lunch half eaten and discarded on the grass, dark ominous thunder clouds, leaves swirling around in the air like a tornado..

And that was all that she was allowed to see, she was mentally knocked back into the hospital room, her head spinning rapidly. She cursed herself for not having gained anymore essential clues for that day, a day she had been graced with to remember. She tried again, though this time immediate dizziness flooded her senses, forcing her to lay her head against her pillow. She stared up hopelessly at the ceiling, tracing the lines of the tiles with her eyes as if they would lead to answers to her never ending questions. Although she would accept defeat tonight, tomorrow would be a different story. She would get her memories back, even if she had to go to extreme lengths to do so. Yet something was telling her it wouldn't be the last memory she would be given. .

* * *

Sasuke had been in the same room in the hospital for hours now, though it seemed more like years. His legs had become to feel numb from being in the same sitting position, though it wasn't like he had a choice. The Hokage had been drilling him with questions all afternoon, and now evening, each question requiring the smallest of details to be dug out and displayed for her knowledge. Sasuke's eyes glanced over at the cursed pendant that rested on her desk, shining tauntingly at him. He wanted nothing more than to set the damned piece of jewelry on fire, to relish in the sight of the flames melting the gold and reflecting against the turquoise stone. All he had to do was to form the hand signs, and fire would be at his disposal..

But that would no longer be considered an option, Sakura hadn't been slashed in the head for him to destroy the reason she was in the hospital. Her efforts would be wasted if he did so.

So he just continued to glare at the stone, while answering any questions that Lady Tsunade had brought his way.

"And Sakura had said the headbands were unfamiliar?" she asked him once again.

"Yes, though she hadn't described the insignia on them, she had already gone on ahead." Sasuke answered.

"Then?"

"We didn't speak. She only spoke to confirm that he had obtained the pendant, and that she was successful." he replied evenly.

"And there were no shinobi guarding the pendant?" she pressed.

"Only those that Sakura had taken out before reaching its location. There must have been some protection on it, but Sakura had to have gotten past it, she had the pendant when she…" Sasuke said, though not being able to complete his sentence.

Tsunade's eyes softened, though only for a split second. Her eyebrows knitted together in thought, and finally sat down in her chair, resting her elbows at her desk. Her eyes danced over the pendant, and finally Sasuke couldn't keep it in any longer.

"You're going to tell me what is so God damn special about this pendant. Now." he demanded.

The hokage looked up at him, and narrowed her eyes.

"You owe me as much, you owe _Sakura _this. I'm completely positive that she would not be happy to hear that her efforts were wasted over a piece of jewelry that, as far was we were both concerned, gives us no trace of significance for us. So talk. Tell me what Sakura actually risked her life for."

Tsunade's eyes stayed glued to his, each person in the room daring each other to blink first. Finally, she smirked.

"You would think that a shinobi of Konoha would be respectful to the Hokage." she retorted.

"Hmph."

The Hokage smiled at him and closed her eyes, appearing satisfied for some odd reason. Then they opened and all signs of haughtiness vanished. "Very well then."

Sasuke felt a rush of success spread throughout his body, though he didn't show it. He simply just waited for the explanation that he deserved to hear, and that he wished Sakura could hear as well.

"I'm sure that you are aware of the history of Konoha, and its founding members." she began.

Sasuke nodded curtly. As a child, he and the others at the academy had learned the history of Konoha. Iruka had told them that a shinobi should know the history of his own village in order to rightfully be given their title. So they had learned about the beginning of Konoha and its founders; The First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, and the leader of the Uchiha clan at the time, Uchiha Madara. Sasuke's younger self had beamed with pride at the mention of his clan's involvement with the founding of Konoha, heads in the classroom had turned to him whispering and pointing with awe and starstruck eyes.

Sasuske brought his attention back to the Hokage, who had picked up the pendant by its gold chain, and let it hang in front of his eyes.

"And you also have been told that this belonged to the First Hokage's mother, my great grandmother. It was her prized possession, and she gave it to Hashirama around the time that Konohagakure was founded, it was in his possession during the time and it's said to have a certain power that can only be awakened by a member of the Senju clan."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Power?"

She nodded. "It's said to be an ancient power that awakens Senju Hashirama's wood style jutsu. In order to keep balance of his power, he stored some of his chakra and a small amount of his DNA in this crystal, he believed that doing this would enable himself to draw its power whenever he needed it, the longer his chakra stays in the crystal, the more powerful it becomes."

"And his chakra has been inside the crystal for quite some time hasn't it?' Sasuke asked.

The Hokage nodded gravely. "At this point, ninety-five years to be exact."

Ninety-five years. For almost a century Senju chakra and DNA was sealed away inside the crystal, chakra that had gained probably an overwhelming amount of power that could give the wielder unimaginable power, the power of the First Hokage. Sasuke recollected a segment of his time with Orochimaru, and how his old master craved for the possession of Senju chakra, even experimenting with Senju DNA in his past, but Sasuke hadn't been interested in his eccentric experiments then.

Sasuke turned to Tsunade. "And that's why it was stolen."

"Precisely. However, we are still uncertain about who was involved in the theft. I guess all that we can count on is that Sakura will hopefully recollect the info on the headbands of the shinobi she encountered. Though I think that may not be for a while." Tsunade replied.

Sasuke's mood darkened, even more so than before, but he wouldn't show it. Now it wasn't a matter of _if _Sakura regained her memories, it would be a _when_ she regained them. It had to be, for the sake of Konoha and for her as well.

For the sake of himself..

"I know you're worried." Tsunade said suddenly, breaking Sasuke's thoughts. He turned to her, about to defend himself when she raised her palm, silencing him. "There's no need. You and I both know why you were so cold to her when she woke up today." Sasuke just looked at her, saying nothing, giving no indication that she was correct or incorrect, giving her no ounce of satisfaction. Tsunade smiled and closed her eyes. She placed the pendant in the pocket of her green coat, and neatly folded her hands on her desk. "Well nothing more can be done tonight. I'm going to try to sort some of this out tomorrow. There's a treatment I want to try on Sakura, it's something that I've been saving and practicing, and I couldn't think of a better person or situation to use it on."

Sasuke still said nothing, he only continued to stare blankly into the wood on her desk.

"She'll recover. I'll make sure of that." she said evenly.

At this Sasuke finally raised his head.

"The reports on her brain activity came in, and although I cannot tell you the details of her condition, I can say that it's not severe, and the recovery should be easy." Tsunade sighed. "Alright, I've kept you long enough. Thank you for the information, you may go."

Sasuke rose, and respectfully bowed his head slightly in her direction. He began to turn when a sudden thought flashed through his mind, or more like a certain girl's voice that had been on repeat for the whole day.

"_You.." _

Sasuke's eyes widened, cringing at the shock he had heard in her voice.

Tsunade raised her head in question, and kept her eyes glued to Sasuke's as he turned towards her once more.

How could he have been so stupid?! How could he have possibly forgotten the one key fact of Sakura's attacker that could quite possibly reveal the person who did this to her?

"The person who did this to her…she knows them." he said suddenly.

Tsunade froze, her expression changing from questionable shock to deep seriousness.

"Are you certain?" she asked gravely.

Sasuke nodded. "It was Sakura who was sure. She sounded extremely sure."

Tsunade said nothing, waiting for him to elaborate. He sighed.

"The pendant was in a tower, Sakura and I were communicating through wireless radios, so we could hear each other's speech. She was about to descent from the tower when she…was pulled away inside. I couldn't see what was happening, but she spoke to the person who grabbed her, and I'm positive that she knew him or her. Then…she was.." Sasuke could barely finish his sentence, though the Hokage seemed to understand completely. She got up from her seat, and walked to the window and began to look out at the moon.

"Then we have no choice. In order to find out who is responsible for this, Sakura will have to tell us, she's the only one who can. And for her to do this, we'll have to ensure that her memories return." she turned to Sasuke. "I know my student, she's practically a daughter to me, and I know that she is just as determined to get her life back. She possesses the will of fire, and it burns bright in her heart."

Sasuke listened to her speak of Sakura, and the entire time he pictured nothing but Sakura in his mind. Her piercing green eyes that glowed when she was happy, and that sparked when she was in a fight. Her nimble body swiftly dodging every attack that threatened to mark her. The complex movements of her hands as they healed and stitched skin back its original luster. Her passion and determination to complete each and every mission assigned to her, even risking her life as she had on her last mission with him, sacrificing her own memories in rode for the mission to be completed. A kunoichi of Konoha should not and will not be given the fate that has been handed to Sakura.

"If there's nothing else to say, you may go." Tsunade said, sitting back down. Once again Sasuke nodded his head, and for the final time turned towards the door. He placed his hand on the knob and twisted it. The knob gave way and the door opened, finally freeing him from the events of the day-

"Arigatō, Uchiha."

Sasuke stopped when he was, his back to Tsunade's words.

"She's lucky to have you."

Although she hadn't seen it, the corners of his mouth rose slightly, and the door closed.

* * *

The Uchiha left her alone in her room, and she slumped back in her chair, mentally and physically exhausted. She dug into the drawer of her desk, and pulled out the long awaited bottle of sake that she had been meaning to drink earlier in the day. She popped the cap off, and poured the liquid down her throat, pure gold compared to the stress of the day she had to withstand. She put the bottle on the desk, and watched droplets of alcohol slide down the white bottle. She immersed herself in the droplet, its movement bringing an image to her mind; a thirteen year old Sakura who had grown out her hair once more, and who was collapsed on the ground with sweat pouring down the sides of her face. She was breathing heavily and she looked about ready to faint.

_o-o-o-o-o_

"_Are you done? Is this possibly the best that you can do?" Tsunade had taunted her, standing over Sakura as her body shook._ _"Maybe you should rest and-"_

"_NO." Sakura had shouted abruptly, smashing her fist into the ground sending small cracks spidering out around Tsunade's feet. With a shaking body, she slowly pushed off of the ground onto her knees, then managed to slowly stand up, and took a fighting stance._

"_There's no way I'd give up now. There's no way I'd give up ever! I am a kunoichi of Konoha, and a disciple of the fifth Hokage. I don't give up. I promised Naruto that we would bring Sasuke back together, and I'm keeping that promise! I'll get stronger and bring him home! I'll get stronger for myself!" she turned to Tsunade. "So don't you DARE count me out, ever!" _

_Tsunade smiled. She expected as much, especially from Sakura. "Again, then." _

_o-o-o-o-o_

Tsunade continued to stare at the bottle of sake, seeing Sakura's fierce eyes reflecting back at her. Even back in the hospital room the old Sakura still existed. Those same determined eyes stared right back at her, even though to Sakura, Tsunade was a stranger. But regardless, her student was still there, and she has a good team behind her recovery, especially Sasuke.

She's lucky to have him, she thought as she downed the last bit of sake. She's lucky to have all of her friends, each and every-

The idea came to her in an instant, practically bashing her in the head, almost causing her to choke on the alcohol.

Of course! Why hand't she thought of him sooner?! It was a long shot but it could work. It had to work. She lunged for the telephone sitting on her desk and hastily began to dial.

* * *

Sasuke judged it to be around midnight, for the halls in the hospital had been quiet and dark. Surely the patients were fast asleep by now, and Sasuke had been meaning to do the same. Whether or not he wanted to admit it to himself, he was exhausted, mentally and physically. He'd get some rest and rise early the next day for some training, and then maybe-

Sasuke suddenly paused. The halls were eerily quiet, though he had the pressing feeling that he was being watched. He felt a small draft blow against the back of his neck, and he calmly closed his eyes and activated his sharingan. He turned swiftly but stopped himself when he saw Sakura peering out the doorway of her room. Sasuke sighed. He hadn't noticed that he was in her hallway, hell he hadn't noticed anything. He was too preoccupied to navigate smoothly and distinguish his surroundings, and he was in a hospital, that shouldn't have been an issue for him.

Sakura had a worried look on her face, and stared at nothing but Sasuke's eyes. She was wearing a red tee-shirt with yellow sleeves and blue shorts, going against the traditional hospital gown attire that the rest of the patients were wearing, though he didn't blame her. She was grasping the doorway with vigor, desperation. Their eyes were fixated on each other's and it took a minute for Sasuke to realize that his sharingan was still active, and it was probably the reason why she was staring at him so intently. He allowed his eyes to flow back to their normal black, yet she still stared at him as if she had something to say, deep desperation was hidden behind her eyes.

"You should be resting. Go back to sleep." he said. He turned away from her and began to walk away from her room, forcing himself to keep moving away from her, otherwise he might launch himself at her and force her to remember everything that she lost. All he could hear were his footsteps echoing-

"What happened to the bells?!" she exclaimed suddenly.

Sasuke froze. His eyes slowly began to widen as his stomach dropped. _What did she just say?_ Slowly, he turned to her, an incredulous look on his face. He stared at her, searching her face for any signs of doubt, though he found none. Her worried look turned into a determined one, and she bravely took a step towards him.

"The bells. Did we…did we get them?" she asked again, wariness in her voice.

Sasuke was completely speechless, he had no words to describe what was happening. How could she know about that? That was so long ago, too long. There was only one explanation.

She waited for his answer.

Sasuke smirked. "Not exactly."

At this he turned, and finally managed to walk away from Sakura, leaving her standing in the hallway.

Sasuke's mind was moving in all directions as he exited the hospital, getting hit with a rush of warm june nighttime air. He stopped for a moment, gathering together all of the events that had just taken place. Then he began to walk silently through the night.

"_What happened to the bells?" _her words echoed in his mind.

At this he suddenly dashed up into the trees, jumping and flying from branch to branch, releasing the complete relief that he withheld.

She remembered the bells.

She _remembered. _

**Who do you think Tsunade is calling? And aww Sasuke is happy now. Liking it? Review!**

**P.S. If you're curious about the progress of this story, I have a listing of the stories I'm currently writing on my profile and their progress. I update it frequently, so check it out to see a story's progress sometime! See ya next chapter :)**


	4. Power

**Author's Note: I can't believe I'm almost to 100 follows, and I'm only on four chapters.. I can't thank you all enough! It means so much that you guys actually read what comes out of my head…hahaa. Anyway, Here's chapter 4!**

* * *

White light poured into the small room in the hospital, shining into fatigued eyes. Sakura hadn't slept at all that night, not even batting an eye. There was too much that needed to be explained to her, so many details that were missing from the pictures she had been trying to re-sculpt for her own knowledge.

o-o-o-o-o

She had been ready to clear her thoughts and start fresh that night, to fall into a deserved sleep that would hopefully bring on dreams and visions of her past. But, the rhythm of eerily familiar footsteps in the hall had broken all chances of sleep and release, and a certain force had drawn Sakura from her bed and out into the hallway.

He had told her to rest, but Sakura knew that her limbs wouldn't bend and obey his words.

She asked about the bells, and it had triggered an eccentric reaction from Sasuke. He had stopped his movement, and for the first time that day, looked her in the eyes. He had seemed like he was searching for something, something unattainable..

Sakura thought that she would finally receive an answer, a piece to the never ending puzzle. One thought could be confirmed and dismissed for the time being, and she could make room for the incoming memories that she could solve. Sakura was ready to get her life back.

And two words had crushed her confidence.

"Not exactly."

o-o-o-o-o

Sakura narrowed her eyes at the ceiling, crushing the Egyptian cotton sheets in her clenched fists. 'Not Exactly'? That was his answer? That's all that she would get out of that pompous jerk? Just two vague words? That hardly answered anything! She still had no clue about the results of their training session back then, and she had relied on Sasuke to fill her in. But of course that plan backfired, he seemed eager to be away from her ever since she landed in the hospital for reasons still unknown to her, another task to add to her agenda.

Sakura frowned. They were teammates, why wouldn't he want to help her in her time of need? Had their relationship not been a good one in their genin days? From the emotions she recalled from their first training session, she remembered feeling giddy and bright when around him, and he hadn't shown any annoyance directed at her that day. But she should know better than to trust the images played out in her mind, part of her didn't even know if she could fully trust them. However, she did manage to get a reaction out of Sasuke from mentioning the bells, so that had to be true. She decided that she would ask Naruto, he'd definitely tell her anything she wanted to know without being too vague.

But Sasuke…

Is this how it would always been from this point on? Getting the cold shoulder and his laconic speech? Could he even tolerate her once she was discharged from the hospital? Didn't he care about his teammates..? Didn't he care about her?

Unable to contain her frustration, she leaned over and grabbed a pillow, shoving it into her face and screaming into it. The vibrations of her voice disturbed the fluff of the pillow, tickling her palms slightly as her fingernails dug into the pillow.

A small knock abruptly stopped Sakura's muffled screams of frustration. Slightly startled, Sakura shot up, allowing the now flattened pillow to fall to her lap. Her quick rising had started a dizzy spell in her head, the room blurring and spinning before her. Sakura closed her eyes and waited for the dizziness to pass. She would need to be careful, she was still pretty shaken up and in pain, her forehead stinging now and again. Not to mention that any significant amount of head movement would send her senses into a complete frenzy of swirls and blurs. Sakura couldn't wait until she was beyond the side effects of her injury, when this damned vertigo like difficulty of simply sitting up straight was eradicated.

When she felt the room settle down, Sakura sighed and looked up at the door.

"Come-" she began to say, but at the sound of her voice the door flew open.

Sakura and her visitor stared each other down, neither of them moving an inch.

Her visitor was a female who looked about her age, a bundle of beautifully arranged flowers cradled in her arm, and who looked comfortable showing off so much skin. Her purple top was cropped up to her mid rib cage, a matching skirt reaching just below her mid thighs. Her hair was a waterfall of blonde silk falling down her back, with a section of it covering the left side of her face. Her blue eyes sparkled with mischief, and they danced around Sakura's face while trying to avoid the white bandage around her forehead. Finally though, they settled on the bandage, yet her eyes had not lost their luster.

Basically put, she was beautiful. She had all the assets that a guy would fall for, Sakura wouldn't be surprised if she had millions of boys drooling after her already. Though, despite her good looks, Sakura couldn't help but acknowledge the overwhelming sensation to relate her to some sort of farm animal. A cow? A sheep? A horse? No, none of those seemed right…

She walked over to Sakura's bed and stopped right next to her. She looked as if she wanted to say something, but was holding her words until she found the correct ones to display. Sakura assumed that she was trying to think of a way to introduce herself, though Sakura had the feeling that they had known each other for quite some time. She would probably ask Sakura how she was doing, and if she had remembered who she was at all, though of course her answer would be no.

Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when the girl in front of her laughed tersely.

"Hmph. You always manage to direct attention to that big forehead of yours."

It was not what Sakura had expected to come out of her mouth, and Sakura closed hers. Sakura remained silent, extremely baffled by her words, yet somehow they managed to make sense.

The bandage around her already wide forehead certainly didn't help with it's appearance, not to mention the soon-to-be scar that Sakura was sure would form.

The girl laughed again, and placed the bouquet of flowers on Sakura's bedside table.

"Got these from our shop, they were just delivered so they're still fresh and sturdy. This room definitely needs some color." she said, looking at the boring cream colored walls.

The flowers were beautiful, arranged so that each bordering flower complemented the next one. A range of violets and blues combined with fresh greens and yellows balanced the arrangement perfectly, and Sakura caught herself staring admiringly into the display of freshly cut flowers.

Sakura looked back at her visitor, and found herself flooded with small hints of nostalgia. She reminded Sakura of her childhood, and the vague vision of picking flowers in a grassy field swam through her mind, though it vanished as quickly as it came.

"Well, aren't you going to say something, forehead?" the girl's voice asked teasingly, flipping her blonde hair behind her back.

Speak? Sakura didn't know what to say, though she managed to get a few words out, even though she sounded like a shy five year old.

"Uhm..thanks for the flowers."

The girl smiled. "Are you kidding? Mom was thrilled when I told her I was going to visit you. She picked out the best flowers. Even more so, she was relieved that you're unharmed."

Sakura frowned and looked down. "I wouldn't say that.."

The girl sat down on Sakura's bed, and placed her hand on Sakura's shoulder. "So, you really don't remember anything?" she asked softly.

Sakura shook her head, tears threatening to fall. "Nothing. I can't remember my genin years, my accomplishments, I don't even remember who most of my friends are.."

There was an awkward silence between the two girls, Sakura barely breathing in an effort to contain her tears.

"Then I am a complete idiot."

Sakura's head rose, and she looked over at the girl with confusion. What had just happened? And what was she talking about? She was smiling at Sakura, as if nothing had just happened. She rose from the bed, and extended her hand towards Sakura.

"I'm Yamanaka Ino." she said brightly, her blue eyes twinkling.

And _wham! _The visions hit Sakura's mind like a moving train.

She saw her and Ino as children, picking flowers in the field and laughing.

_Ino-chan! Look at all the beautiful colors!_

Ino giving her a red ribbon to tie on her head after she had been made fun of for her forehead.

_Don't hide it, it'll only make it worse. This ribbon will help!_

Their obsessive competitions for Sasuke's attention at the academy.

_Sasuke-kun likes ME forehead! He likes girls with long hair and charm!_

Ino and her team protecting Sakura when she had chopped off her own hair to save Naruto and Sasuke in the Forest of Death.

_Your teammates are down, protect them, we'll handle this._

Their first head to head fight in the preliminaries of the chunin exams.

_I won't lose to you anymore. This time, I'm going to win! _

The visions vanished, though this time Sakura had managed to grab them, to hold on to them and keep them for her own. Her heart had swelled with emotion, nostalgia and complete happiness flooded her entire body. Tears of joy gathered in the corners of her eyes, and she took her friend's hand in her own and did her best not to squeeze it as tight as she had wanted to. The amount of energy that flowed between the two girls was electrifying, the power of their friendship sparked a new fire in Sakura's heart, igniting the blazing hope that everything would be ok.

Sakura looked up at Ino, and for the first time that day, smiled.

"Ino, Arigatō." Sakura said, laughing.

She finally remembered the animal that Ino was.

It was a pig.

* * *

_Thwack._

The kunai flew into the wooden post, implanting itself sending small splinters of wood into the grass. The moon was a beacon that sent glowing light around the entire backyard of the Uchiha compound, adding an eerie touch to Sasuke's surrounding. He had been doing the same thing for hours, regardless of the fact that he had been training just hours before with Naruto. But this was the only way he could ever think clearly. He stared at the post, and the previously thrown kunai embedded into the wood. He had thrown them so that no space was left vacant, and he promised himself that he'd stop when there was no more possible space to implant his weapons. Yet there he was, staring at the post covered in kunai, eyeing the last possible vision of clean wood. Sasuke had turned the post into a kunai pin cushion, unrecognizable by now. He raised his arm to throw the final one, but stopped, leaving his arm raised in a hopeless attempt to make contact with the never ending issue he had been contemplating since that afternoon…

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"You're too slow, Teme!" Naruto had playfully shouted, dodging one of Sasuke's punches and landing safely a few feet away. He whipped out a few shuriken and swiftly threw them at him. Sasuke pivoted on his foot, all the while forming rapid handsigns. He felt his chakra swell in his stomach, travel up his throat, then dispel as a heated flame. It engulfed the shuriken completely, melting the metal and sending them into the ground with a dull thud. The rest of the flame flew after Naruto, who dodged once more, but was then engulfed in thick black smoke.

They had been sparring for an hour, and neither of them had the means to give in to the other's strength, not that they ever had in the past.

The smoke cleared rapidly, and Naruto had a spiraling ball of chakra in his hand, ready to attack. Sasuke had now acknowledged that the rasengan was one of Naruto's signature jutsus, next to the shadow clones. It had grown over the years, increasing in the depth and volume of chakra that it was supplied with, and it had evolved into an extremely powerful, reliable technique.

Fine, if he wanted to hurry things up, he would as well.

Sasuke's hands flew from sign to sign, and he felt the familiar tickling sensation of electricity running down his arm and escaping into crackles and light. The sound of birds chirping sounded through the training grounds, and an electric blue light reflected against Sasuke's eyes. Chidori was complete.

He dashed forward, running at a blinding speed towards Naruto, who hadn't stopped his pursuit.

They got closer and closer, every inch sending chills down the others spine at how powerful each other's chakra was. Sasuke could feel Naruto's strength radiating off of his body; adrenaline rushed though Sasuke's body as he extended his arm right at Naruto's heart..

Then it was over.

The two shinobi stopped in their tracks, their arms frozen. Rasengan and chidori shone threateningly next to each of their heads, the electricity making small strands of Naruto's hair stick up and spiraling wind blowing Sasuke's hair out of proportion. They stood unmoving, looking into each other's eyes. Then, their power diminished, slowly fading from their hands as if it hadn't even existed in the first place. The sun set the colors of the training grounds back to normal, and everything was calmed once more.

Naruto grinned. "I almost had you that time."

Sasuke smirked. "You could never beat me, baka."

They lowered their arms, and took up their normal stances. These had been normal circumstances during a training session between the two of them. They would get so heated in the moment that both of them would resort to their ultimate jutsu, but of course both of them would stop at the last second to avoid any serious injury.

Naruto threw his hands behind his head. "Are you kidding? I could have totally beaten you! Almost could have blown you right into the forest. But if I did that, Sakura-chan would-"

An abrupt silence came over Naruto, stopping his speech.

Sasuke had froze, dropping the shuriken back into its original spot on the ground.

Sakura..he hadn't seen her since last night, and as much as he could, he couldn't get her face out of his mind. He remembered her hopeful face when she asked him if they had gotten the bells from Kakashi, and how the color and glimmer of her skin drained when he hadn't fully answered her and left. He had to leave, he didn't have a choice. If he had stayed, there would have been no doubt that he would have lost it right in front of Sakura, and he didn't want to create an impression of himself that she would now first associate him with whenever they saw each other.

If they saw each other.

"Sasuke, you need to visit her."

Sasuke head snapped towards Naruto, who was looking at Sasuke with a knowing look.

"Sasuke, she's confused. More than that, she's frustrated! Imagine waking up in a hospital without your memories and everything about your life had to be explained to you, everything that you should already know. She's probably extremely upset about it, and she needs her friends."

Sasuke said nothing, not even making eye contact with his best friend.

How could he see her? What would he say to her after their encounter? 'Hey, I left you alone and confused in the hallway last night because I can't stand the fact that you don't remember anything' ? No, nothing he could say would soothe his raging nerves.

"Not to mention," Naruto continued, "That when you were unconscious in the hospital back when your brother used his sharingan on you, she visited you everyday."

Sasuke frowned. Yes, he remembered his first failed attempt at killing his brother when he had tried to take Naruto from them. He woke up in the hospital, and the first thing he saw was Sakura's pink hair. She had stayed by his side, constantly peeling apples for him to snack on..

Suddenly, he heard a whizzing sound slice though the air, and he swiftly caught a kunai that was aimed at his head. He turned to the Naruto, who had been holding his ground, staring at Sasuke in as much seriousness as he could muster. He walked over to Sasuke calmly, then spoke again, this time his words really hit Sasuke hard.

"When you left the village…she hadn't given up hope that her and I could bring you back. She never gave up on you, so don't give up on her."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Sasuke gripped the kunai tightly, still standing outside in the dark. He stared at the muscles inside of his hand, bulging behind his skin, as a jumble of voices swam in his head.

"_She never gave up on you, so don't give up on her."_

"_The bells, did we get them?"_

With a final force of his arm, he threw the kunai, but vanished from his backyard before the final vacant space of wood on the post was pierced.

* * *

It had been one of the greatest afternoons in the hospital.

Sakura and Ino had talked for hours, laughing and re-catching up with each other as if nothing had changed. Sakura had naturally taken a liking to Ino, which of course wasn't surprising in the least bit. They reminisced in their childhood, laughing at how ridiculous they were prying for Sasuke's attention, though Sakura hadn't fully gotten into the conversation because she didn't fully remember how her crush on Sasuke felt to her back then. But regardless, Sakura was happy.

Besides Naruto, Ino was the only person who had full conversations with her, not just singular syllable phrases. When visiting hours were over, Ino had promised that she would visit her the next day, and this time she'd bring some other people with her, which kind of made Sakura nervous, but excited.

Now she was laying on her back, unable to fall asleep, though it was still pretty early so she wasn't in any hurry. She closed her eyes and allowed her newly attained memories to dance behind her eyelids, enchanted by each and every one.

"_Don't wait for them to be handed to you, you're a fighter and you're strong, so take back what's rightfully yours." _Ino had told her hours before.

So Sakura did, scanning each part of her memories that she had received this afternoon to see if anything would trigger something more. Though nothing had turned up, she had been receiving memories as a rapid pace, so she wasn't as discouraged as she had been the previous night before she remembered the bells.

Though she had more reasons to celebrate than just receiving more memories. After Ino left, Lady Tsunade had paid her a visit, bringing great news with her. She had reported that Sakura's wound was healing at a surprisingly rapid rate, the risk of any infection had passed. If her wound continued to heal at this rate, she could be discharged from the hospital sooner than expected.

And that meant that Sakura could finally start to get her life back.

Sakura sighed and turned her head towards the window. The lights in the village were shining, and she could make out the small silhouettes of many villagers out and about, taking advantage of the warm evening. Sakura would give anything to go outside, even for just a moment. She had been permitted to walk through the halls of the hospital, but that was about it, much to her dismay. Deciding that just opening her window would satisfy her summer fever, she sat up and swung her legs over to the side of her bed and let her feet clang against the floor.

She began to stand when she suddenly heard a loud crack, and looked down at her feet to notice a small crack had spidered out in the white tile next to her bed. She frowned, were these floors that weak? She kneeled down to examine the crack, tracing it with her finger.

Then it happened again, she received the same eerie feeling that she was on to something, something important. She traced the crack once more, slowly. Then to her surprise, she fell into the same symptoms that had invaded her when she was about to regain a part of herself, and opened her eyes to a new picture from her past.

* * *

_She had been working her body the entire day, sweat pouring down her temples and her breathing rapid, but steady. A cool breeze was blowing but it did little to cool off her high temperature._

"_It's about control, that's the main factor in this technique." Lady Tsunade had told her. _

_She nodded, focusing her chakra once more to her fist as she had been doing for hours. She had been told all her life that her chakra control was excellent, superb. And now she could finally show off her talent with this training, and with it, she could finally hold her own weight on missions. Naruto had been gone for six months, and he wouldn't be back for quite a while. That was just enough time to train herself, to make herself stronger._

_Her chakra came to its fruition, and she raised her fist into the air, relishing in the adrenaline rushing through her entire body. Her fist came down on the ground, and instantly the earth shattered, a giant fissure spreading out all around her. But this one had been different. Her previous attempts had resulted in deep surface cracks on the ground, mild ones. However this time, she had been graced with an earthquake, an overwhelmingly intense disaster of its own small proportion. The cracks spread as far as her eyes would allow her to see, giant pieces of earth flying out of the ground and shattering into dust. A whole flock of birds abandoned a nearby tree to fly at safer heights, to avoid the trauma of the breaking wood. _

_The section of the forest had become nothing but rubble, crumpled earth that would need to be reshaped and resculpted. _

_Her eyes scanned the area, and a sense of shock over came her. _

_I did this?_

_She stopped staring when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked over to see Lady Tsunade examining her work._

"_Shishou, I-" she began, but Lady Tsunade raised her hand to silence her, then placed it on top of pink hair. _

"_I have never seen such power, such remarkable power from anyone your age. I didn't expect you to progress this far, but over and over again you've proved me wrong." _

_Tsunade smiled approvingly at her, and she felt a warmth spread throughout her body._

"_I'm glad to have you as my student."_

_A sense of joy and accomplishment flooded throughout her body as she scanned the forest ground once more. She never imagined that she could have ever attained this power, to shatter the hard earth she stood upon. To have the strength of a thousand shinobi.._

_She'd be ready when Naruto came back._

_She'd be ready._

* * *

The dark hospital room flooded back into Sakura's vision, and everything returned to normal. Sakura hadn't moved, she kept her fingers on the crack in the tile and went over in her head what she had just witnessed. The power in her fist, the earth shattering beneath her hands as if it were made of butter; it played out deliciously in her mind.

Sakura picked up her hand form the crack, and enclosed it in a fist, looking intently at it. Such a delicate hand, and yet, it had crushed the unimaginable.

This new knowledge had opened a window in Sakura's mind, a new motivation to get her life back and keep it for herself. She closed her eyes, and instantly Ino's words floated into her mind.

"_Take back what's rightfully yours." _

Sakura's eyes flew open, a passionate fire burning in the green of her eyes.

She was tired of waiting.

* * *

The hospital had been dormant for quite sometime, always settling down around the same time each night. It was still pretty early, but regardless of the time most of the windows were black, proving to be the conclusion that the patients were asleep.

Sasuke had gone over in his head what he would say to Sakura, or rather, what he would say after she made the first move to speak. It had always been that way, even before the 'incident', as Sasuke had called it.

He told his body to move, tried to force his legs to leap from the sturdy branch he was perched on, yet his limbs would not obey him. A strange force was holding him to the branch, not willing to let him go see her.

_Don't be ridiculous, just move already! _He told himself stubbornly, but no response. He would just have to suck it up and do it, he was an Uchiha, and Uchiha didn't back out of anything. However, his mind kept making up stupid excuses.

She'll ask me too many questions.

Just do it.

She's probably asleep.

Just do it.

She'll make me go insane-

Just do it!

"Damn it!" he cursed under his breath, slamming his fist into the tree. The tree shook, and a few leaves fell to the ground, spinning and dancing in the wind.

Sasuke sighed. It was now or never. It had been past closing hours, so he'd have to knock on her window, but he was sure she'd open up for him once she realized who it was.

He was about to leap off of the tree when something he saw stopped him completely.

One of the windows up ahead began to open quietly and slowly, and a figure hopped out smoothly. Sasuke immediately activated his sharingan, which had allowed him to clearly analyze the figure's movements in the dark.

The figure with pink hair.

_Sakura?_

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly as he realized that it was Sakura who had opened her window and was now standing tall on the ledge outside the window of her room. He watched her turn around and gently close her window halfway. She looked behind her, as if to check of anyone was watching. Then without warning, she leaped off of the roof, and into the trees nearby, vanishing from Sasuke's sight.

He narrowed his eyes, suspicion growing inside of him like wildfire.

Where was she going?

His body finally listened to him, allowing him to take off from the branch and follow his teammate.

* * *

**Hmm.. where's Sakura going? Any guesses? You'll find out next chapter! xx**

**P.S. changed my pen name, so don't worry when you see a different name under my stories :)**


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